Source: http://www.governing.com, June 2015 By: Daniel C. Vock The White House finalized a rule last week to strengthen the Clean Water Act. But it doesn’t resolve the fights going on between urban and rural interests in Iowa and elsewhere over how to clean up. Des Moines has a water problem. The source of the drinking […]

Source: http://www.pacbiztimes.com, May 29, 2015 By: Marissa Wenzke The pipeline leak that released more than 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean and soiled 9 miles of Santa Barbara coastline on May 19 will likely result in a $200,000 fine from federal regulators and potentially millions of dollars in cleanup costs and environmental penalties for […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, April 17, 2015 By: Stephen P. Kelly, Stoel Rives LLP Because contractors often have limited liquid assets, insurance and bonding are often the best resources available to an owner to protect against contractor default or defective work. However, not all policies and bonds are created equal, and owners should make sure these resources […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, May 27, 2015 By: James O. Birr, Mimerson & Cobb P.A. Contractors, developers, owners, and anyone involved in the construction and design industry must be aware of the time periods for bringing suit to enforce construction and design related claims.  Florida law has various limitations periods for filing of lawsuits.  95.11 Florida Statutes. […]

Source: http://www.syracuse.com, May 27, 2015 By: Tim Knauss Coyne Textile Services, one of the nation’s largest uniform rental companies, is trying to find out if toxic chemicals recently discovered in groundwater and soil at its Syracuse site are spreading to neighboring properties. The Syracuse Common Council on Tuesday gave Coyne permission to drill four monitoring […]

Source: Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2015 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Federal authorities on Wednesday issued a cleanup order to the company whose underground pipeline last week spilled thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean and marred several miles of Santa Barbara County coastline. “Our action today is to make sure the oil […]

Source: http://www.timesleader.com, May 23, 2015 By: Jerry Lynott As the crow flies, Brian Gallagher lives about 2,000 feet from a state shooting range and the sound of gunshots aren’t far off. But what’s bothering the former U.S. Navy fighter pilot is lead from the spent ammunition may have gotten too close for comfort and possibly […]

Source: http://www.natlawreview.com, May 26, 2015 A Wisconsin district court has ruled that NCR Corporation’s liability for contamination in the Fox River is limited to NCR’s share of contamination contributed to the river. In the first case to explore in depth the Superfund divisibility defense after the US Supreme Court’s decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe […]

Source: http://obrag.org, May 22, 2015 By: Natasha Geiling Other cities have sued over PCB pollution, but San Diego’s case is unique. In a 1970 internal memo, agrochemical giant Monsanto alerted its development committee to a problem: Polychlorinated Biphenyls — known as PCBs — had been shown to be a highly toxic pollutant. PCBs — sold […]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 2015 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com The San Francisco Bay Area, like Santa Barbara, is home to a vast network of oil pipelines that could easily rupture and cause the same kind of disastrous spill that is blackening the Southern California coast. A large pipeline next to Refugio State Beach in […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, May 20, 2015 By: Gerald F. George, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP On May 19, a district court ruled that a company had established divisibility for its liability at a major downstream segment of the Fox River mega-site in Wisconsin, capping its liability for that segment at 28%. This same court had initially held that the company, […]

Source: http://www.sltrib.com, May 20, 2015 By: Brian Maffly Before Big West Oil LLC acquired its North Salt Lake refinery in 1986, the plant’s former operator dumped or spilled numerous hazardous wastes at the site, a once-common practice that became closely regulated in the early 1980s under new federal laws. Those forgotten chemical sludges have continued […]